School: NYU Abu Dhabi
Program: Interactive Media
Course Number: IM-UH 2120 Regional Seminar
Elective Cluster: Media & Design Thinking
Semester: Spring 2018
Prerequisites: Intro to IM (IM-UH 1001), Comm Lab (IM-UH 1002), or Instructor Approval
Credit Hours: 4 units
Time: Mon 11:50 - 13:05 & Wed 11:50pm - 2:40pm
Room: Arts Center IM Lab (Rm.029)
IM Lab Access Form
Instructor: Craig Protzel
Email: craig.protzel@nyu.edu
Office Hours: TBD
Making Education is a regional seminar course that will focus on education theory, instructional design, creative collaboration, and production of site-specific “maker” learning materials. Rooted in the Interactive Media culture of openness, accessibility and making, students will be challenged to thoughtfully navigate the education system in Kathmandu, Nepal and meaningfully effect learning opportunities in collaboration with our local partner organization. Iterative design cycles and project-based work will be paired with semi-formal research, theoretical analysis, ethnographic interviews, reflective writing, and project documentation. By researching, investigating, and applying creative educational models, students will experience a unique opportunity to apply the processes and principles of the Interactive Media Program onto a real-world use case. Ideally, a combination of making, teaching, and learning will result in insights that are both personally significant, locally relevant, and globally transferable. This course does involve a week-long Spring Break trip to Kathmandu, Nepal and a formal commitment to engage with our local partners.
The course will run in direct collaboration with the Karkhana Education Organization, based in Kathmandu, Nepal. Over the course of the semester, students will work in multi-disciplinary teams each paired directly with a Karkhana “Maker Mentor” who is actively involved in the Kathmandu secondary-school educational space. Student teams will collaboratively design and produce sustainable self-directed learning materials that appropriately address a range of site-specific constraints. In the process, students will gain comprehensive first-hand exposure to the public and private education system in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Leveraging the diversity of educational backgrounds at NYU Abu Dhabi, students will be expected to share their own secondary-school experiences and perspectives to enrich group discourse and foster innovative collaborations within the course. Students will also be expected to conduct interviews, work across disciplines, and leverage any relevant Interactive Media program experience. One of the main questions posed will be whether it is possible to design effective Interactive Media curriculum that affords valuable self-directed learning opportunities. While technical skills will be incorporated, the course will not focus on introducing new technologies but instead will spend a majority of the time investigating and applying creative models for both teaching and learning.
- Cultivate a basic understanding of a range of theoretical approaches to both learning and teaching and their role in contemporary education systems
- Gain first-hand real-world experience investigating, analyzing, and effecting an education system in a meaningful, mindful, and sustainable fashion
- Develop ability to conduct ethnographic, person-centered interviews that focus on deep listening and ethical collection of knowledge
- Produce self-directed learning resources based on specific design constraints and educational objectives
- Develop innovative and creative instructional design skills transferable to education systems around the world
- Gain valuable collaborative experience working directly with peers and external stakeholders
This course will combine both practice-based “active learning” sessions with seminar style theoretical discussions. Students will be expected to collabroate with one another, produce project work, write papers, contribute to class discussion, share work, and offer support to one another.
Student groups will also be paired with a Maker Mentor who works at Karkhana. This person will act as a “member” of your group and will represent your team on the ground in Kathmandu. You will be expected to communicate directly with your assigned Maker Mentor and actively engage them in your work in terms of direction, feedback and support.
- Attendance - 10%
- Participation - 10%
- Be present and mindful during class time
- Contribute to class discussions
- Share personal experiences and perspectives
- Raise questions
- Actively engage with student group and Karkhana Org
- Present work in class
- Homework Assignments - 15%
- Readings
- Blog Posts
- Project Exercises
- Documentation
- Papers - 25%
- Initial Research Paper with Interview (10%)
- Post-Trip Reflection Paper (5%)
- Final Analysis Paper (10%)
- Projects - 35%
- Prototype Spring Break Project (10%)
- Post-trip Project Iteration (10%)
- Final project (15%)
- Peer Review - 5%
- Papert, Seymour, Mindstorms (Basic Books, 1993)
- IDEO, Design Research Ethics (2015)
All other readings will be distributed digitally.
- Initial Research Paper - interviews at both NYUAD and Karkhana
- Mid-term Project - prototype kit + lesson plan
- Post-Trip Reflection Paper - lessons learned, plan for remainder of semester
- Final Analysis Paper - description of final project, explain motivations and support for decisions
- Final Project - Self-Guided Learning Tool Kit + Lessons
- Students are expected to attend ALL classes and actively engage in ALL class discussions, exercises, and activities.
- Be on time - for class, for assignments, for meetings. Habitual lateness will not be tolerated.
- If you know you are going to be late or absent due to illness or other circumstances, please email me in advance. If an emergency occurs, please let me know as soon as you can.
- Unexcused absences or habitual lateness will negatively impact your final grade for the class:
- Being more than 15 minutes late to class will result in 1 point off your Attendance Grade each time this occurs.
- Each unexcused absence will result in 2 points off your Attendance Grade.
- More than 2 unexcused absences will result in an entire lower overall letter grade.
- More than 4 unexcused absences will result in an F in the class.
- Sustained in class participation that demonstrates careful reading and reviewing of all materials is a requirement for succeeding in this course. Participating during class helps me get to know you as an individual and keep track of your progress. It also provides you and your classmates greater opportunities to learn from each other.
- Ask questions. If you do not ask questions, I can only assume you understand the material completely.
- Be prepared to work in groups on assignments and be an active contributor to your group.
- All homework assignments must be turned in on time. For each day a homework assignment is late, it will result in 1 percentage points deducted from your Homework Grade.
- All project assignments must be turned in on time. For each day a project assignment is late, it will result in 5 percentage points deducted from your Project Grade.
- You are expected to present your work in class. Explaining your work to other people is a great way to better understand the material and answer questions for yourself.
- Communicate with me and let me know if you have any concerns pertaining to the course. If you would like extra help or additional instruction, please let me know. You can email me, sign up for office hours, speak with me before class or after class, or all of the above.
NYU Abu Dhabi expects its students to adhere to the highest possible standards of scholarship and academic conduct. Students should be aware that engaging in behaviors that violate the standards of academic integrity will be subject to review and may face the imposition of penalties in accordance with the procedures set out in the NYUAD Policy
At NYU Abu Dhabi, a commitment to excellence, fairness, honesty, and respect within and outside the classroom is essential to maintaining the integrity of our community. By accepting membership in this community, students, faculty, and staff take responsibility for demonstrating these values in their own conduct and for recognizing and supporting these values in others. In turn, these values will create a campus climate that encourages the free exchange of ideas, promotes scholarly excellence through active and creative thought, and allows community members to achieve and be recognized for achieving their highest potential.